HC Deb 14 July 1958 vol 591 cc804-6
26. Mr. Lipton

asked the Minister of Health what action he will take to improve security precautions at Broad-moor.

Mr. Walker-Smith

The Board of Control has decided to hold an inquiry into the recent incident at Broadmoor Institution, and I must await its report.

Mr. Lipton

Will this inquiry be a full inquiry, in view of the widespread public misgivings caused by the recent escape? For example, will the inquiry take note of the unanimous view of the 230 male nurses and others, employed at Broad-moor who have made urgent representations to the Minister as recently as last Friday that, from the security point of view, the Home Office should have some say in this matter?

Mr. Walker-Smith

This will be a full inquiry in the sense that it will inquire into all matters which are relevant and into which it is constitutionally proper for the Board of Control to inquire.

Mr. Hurd

Will this be an independent inquiry such as the Scott Henderson inquiry, which threw a very useful light on some very difficult problems? I am asking this on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Mr. Remnant). Is my hon. Friend aware that the local people are very anxious that there should be a full and independent inquiry?

Mr. Walker-Smith

This will not be an independent inquiry in the sense of the Scott Henderson Committee in June, 1952. I have already said that this is an inquiry by the Board of Control. It is an inquiry into this specific incident which, as I have explained to the House, is the first serious escape since the publication of the Scott Henderson findings in 1952. The procedures were reviewed by the Scott Henderson Committee. This is obviously a more narrow approach.

Mr. Paget

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman bear in mind the very remarkable achievements in curing people by Broadmoor and not be panicked by this sort of thing into making medical treatment in Broadmoor impossible?

Mr. Walker-Smith

Yes. I have already explained to the House last Wednesday that I have in mind the considerations to which the hon. and learned Member referred as well as the conditions of security which have been raised by the hon. Member for Brixton (Mr. Lipton) and my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr. Hurd).

Sir G. Nicholson

Will my right hon. and learned Friend bear in mind that this raises not only the question of mental treatment but also the possibility that the Board of Control is not the best body to examine what might be called questions of security? In view of the fact that all elderly people living alone in the surrounding neighbourhood and county are made most uneasy, will he bear in mind that this is not a stunt but that this expression of their feeling is genuine?

Mr. Walker-Smith

Nobody queries for a moment the feelings to which my hon. Friend has referred, but these matters must be considered in their proper context. As I have already explained, this is the first escape of a serious nature other than—

Mr. Lipton

What has that to do with it?

Mr. Walker-Smith

It enables people to see these things in proper proportion. This is the first escape since the summer of 1952. If it is possible as a result of this experience to do anything to improve the security arrangements, my hon. Friend can be quite certain that we shall see that it is done.